


Stages of Acceptance

by IdiotsPlayingVideoGames



Series: After the End [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Five Stages of Grief, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Other characters mentioned - Freeform, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter needs a father figure, Post-Endgame, endgame spoilers, i don't think theres enough works that explore their friendship, i just really think clint would be good for peter, idk man, reference to major character death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2019-06-24
Packaged: 2020-05-19 04:35:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19349611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IdiotsPlayingVideoGames/pseuds/IdiotsPlayingVideoGames
Summary: Two months since he'd woken up to Dr Strange telling him to fight. Two months since defeating Thanos. Two months since losing one of the most important people in his life. Peter is trying to pretend that everything is alright. He's trying to move on. To leave it in the past. But the ghosts haunt him at every turn. In a desperate attempt to find help for her nephew, May reaches out to friends that might understand what Pete's going through.Could be seen as a spiritual successor to my "Tell Me A Story" fic, but it's not necessary to read it before this.





	Stages of Acceptance

May noticed a change in Peter, but didn’t say anything for a long time. He had done something similar when Ben died. He threw himself into school and anything else that would keep his mind busy. This was different, though. She tried to ignore his fake smiles and jumpiness in the hopes it would stop on its own, but two months later nothing had gotten better. In fact, he seemed to be getting worse. Everyday he looked more tired and distant. May suspected it was due to more than just Tony’s passing. She couldn't even begin to imagine what he’d seen during his space trip.

 

“Hey, Pete.” She smiled at the teen when he walked through the door.

 

His expression morphed into a tight smile instantly. “Hi, May! How was your day? Mine was great. Decathalon practice was fun. Ned wants to come over tomorrow and watch a movie if that’s alright with you. Of course, if it’s not, that’s okay. I have patrol so maybe it would be better if we pushed it back-”

 

“Peter,” May softly interjected. “We should talk.”

 

His brows creased in a frown. “We are talking.”

 

“No, Pete, we’re not.” She patted the couch next to her and scooted to curl up in the corner as he joined her. “How are you?”

 

“I’m good.”

 

“Principal Morita called. He says that you haven’t been doing well in your classes since you came back and that you’ve been distant. Your teachers are getting concerned.” He refrained from offering up any thoughts so she pushed forward. “We haven’t really talked about it and I think we need to.”

 

“About what?” Peter averted his eyes and his left leg started bouncing. when she didn’t respond, he chanced a glance. One look at her probing eyes gave him his answer. “Oh.  _ That. _ ”

 

She reached out a hand and gently squeezed his knee.

 

“We don’t need to talk about it. I’m fine. Really.”

 

“Pete, honey--”

 

Peter stood suddenly and gave her a big smile as he backed away. “I’ve gotta go and get some homework done before I head out on patrol. If I’m not here for dinner, just stick it in the fridge.” He disappeared into his room.

 

May walked to his door. She pressed her forehead to the white wood and knocked gently. “I know… we both know it’s tough to lose someone. You don’t need to go through this alone.” She listened for any response and received only silence. “Just talk to me, Peter.” After a slight hesitation, she gripped the doorknob.”I’m coming in, okay?” She slowly eased it open and poked her head through.

 

The room was empty. Peter’s backpack lay abandoned on the floor along with his clothes. His curtains flapped lazily in the breeze from his open window. S

he sighed as she picked up and folded his clothes.

 

Usually she felt she got the mom roll down pretty good. Peter was easy to look after, barring the whole Spider-Man thing. That was still giving her grey hairs. But at times like this she didn’t know if she was handling things right. What would Mary and Richard have done? Or Ben? Would they have know what to say? Would anyone know what to say? Who would besides someone who went through the same thing?

 

A thought caused May to pause. She bit her lip, considering if it was really the right call. At this point, there was no other option she could see.

 

Harold “Happy” Hogan’s number only rang a few times before the man picked up. “May? 

What happened?” he demanded. “Is he hurt? How bad? Do I need to call in back-up?”

 

“What? No. He’s fine. Well, physically fine.”

 

The man audibly relaxed. “As long as it’s not life threatening I can handle it.”

 

May sat on Peter’s bed and let her head fall into her hand. “He’s not handling this well, Harold. He says he’s fine, but I know he’s having trouble. I just don’t know what to say. What do I tell a kid who’s lost his father figure for the third time? Not only that, what do I say to a kid who went to space, fought aliens, and died only to come back five years later? I don’t know where to start. I’m just looking for some sort of guidance.”

 

There was silence on the other end for a long time. Just when she thought the call might have gotten disconnected, he spoke. “I might know of someone he could talk to. I’m going to have to make some calls. Give me a few hours to get some stuff together.”

 

Tension left May’s shoulders. “Thank you, Harold.”

 

“Don’t thank me yet,” the man replied before he ended the call.

 

********

Two months. It had been two months since everyone lost in The Decimation had returned. Two months since Iron Man-- since Tony Stark-- sacrificed himself to save the world. As far as Peter could tell, others were moving on. People went to jobs, kids went to school, and the world was slowly putting itself back together. But he wasn’t moving on. He just couldn’t. Everywhere he looked he saw Tony. Spray painted murals there, a goatee here, and he swore he could hear his voice chastising him whenever he did something stupid. Which was often.

 

It wasn’t that he hadn’t tried. He’d joined everyone else in returning to school and went on patrols like he used to. He really tried to act like everything was normal. Like he hadn’t been MIA for five years and thrust back into a war that ended with his mentor sacrificing everything. But the feeling of emptiness never seemed to leave him no matter how hard he tried to bury it.

 

He didn’t want to talk because it brought everything back and just thinking about it made his chest tighten painfully. So when May refused to drop the subject of course he escaped through his window. He stayed out later than normal and when he finally returned he barely had the energy to change clothes and collapse on top of his covers.

 

He couldn’t remember what he dreamed, but he was left with the taste of ash and feel of grime. It seemed he always woke more tired nowadays. A quick look at the clock told him he had exactly seven minutes and fifty-two seconds to make it to school. With a start, he jumped out of bed and frantically threw his things together. He was still struggling to fit his head through the armhole of his shirt when he stumbled out of his room.

 

“Hey, May! I’m running really late so I don’t have time for breakfast.” He nearly tripped over his untied shoe as he finally found the right hole for his head. The image of Happy Hogan sitting in his living room made him freeze in his tracks. His heart skipped a beat or twenty and he suddenly felt like he was getting tunnel vision. “Hey, uh, Happy, wha-what are you doing here?” he said as he pushed the feeling away.

 

“I called him,” May said from the kitchen where she was beating eggs to death.

 

“Why?”

 

She mercifully put down the murdered eggs. “Because I couldn’t think of who else to call. When you’re parents died, you had Ben and me to help you. When Ben died, we had each other. But Tony?”

 

The mention of his name made Peter flinch ever so slightly.

 

“I know you don’t want to admit you’re struggling. I know you’re trying to be strong and brave, but I’m worried that you’re making things worse.” She closed the space between them and put her hands on his shoulders.

 

He pointed at their visitor. “What does any of this have to do with Happy?”

 

Happy stood and buttoned his jacket. “I’ve set something up for you. A nice place on a farm where you can relax and come to terms at your own pace.”

 

“This will be good for you.” May slid her hands down his arms to grip his slack hands in hers. “You need time away from the city to process.”

 

A snort escaped Peter as he backed up from the adults, hands raised in defense. “I don’t know what you guys are talking about. I’m fine. I’m just running late for school so I really gotta go.” He grabbed his backpack and tried to get past.

 

“I already talked to the school.” May gently caught his arm. “They understand the circumstances. Lots of kids are taking some time off to get adjusted.”

 

“I don’t need time to get adjusted.” Peter’s hands clenched into fists. “I just need you to leave me alone.” His voice wavered somewhere between talking and yelling. “I just,” he paused, unsure. “I just…” May was holding him tight.

 

“I know,” she whispered. “It’s okay.” She held him until he relaxed into the hug.

 

“I’ll go,” he relented, “but I’m only going to make you feel better.”

 

May pulled back and smiled. “It will make me feel a lot better.”

 

Happy cleared his throat. “If that’s the case, you better get your bag packed. We’ve got a quinjet to catch.”

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think so far. I just really wanted a story focusing on a Peter and Clint friendship. Two of my favorite heroes. Not sold on the title, so that may change. If you have an idea for a better one let me know.


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